Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Bobcats continue mastery of Lakers, 109-89

The AP reports:

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson was so upset he spoke to reporters for 5 seconds and then walked away. Kobe Bryant sneaked out of the locker room before addressing the press at all.

A once promising road trip has quickly turned sour for the two-time defending champions, although they probably should have seen their most lopsided loss of the season coming.

The Charlotte Bobcats somehow own them.

Gerald Wallace had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Gerald Henderson added 18 points and helped slow Bryant, and the Bobcats cruised to a 109-89 victory on Monday night to extend one of the more unusual one-sided matchups in the NBA.

The Bobcats have won eight of the past 10 meetings. The Lakers, 5-8 all-time against the NBA’s newest team, hold a losing record against only one other club — the Boston Celtics.

This latest loss, full of missed shots and poor defense and coming on the heels of an ugly defeat in Orlando, left Jackson steamed.

“I’m embarrassed about what we did and that’s it,” Jackson said as he began to stroll away. “Thank you.”

Jazz name Jeff Hornacek assistant coach

The Utah Jazz announced today that Jeff Hornacek has been named an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2010-11 season.  Hornacek joins lead assistant Scott Layden on head coach Tyrone Corbin’s coaching staff.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.

Hornacek becomes a full-time assistant coach after having begun working for the Jazz as a shooting coach prior to the 2007 NBA Playoffs.  In addition to that time working together, Hornacek and Corbin also were teammates twice as players covering parts of three seasons, first in Phoenix during the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons, and again in Utah in 1993-94.

“I am excited to have Jeff on board and to have him expand his role and become more involved with the team,” said Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin.  “He has a great history with basketball, especially with the Jazz, and I think the players are excited about him being around more.  I think he will bring a lot of positive energy and knowledge to the team.”

Hornacek becomes only the seventh different assistant coach for the Jazz since Jerry Sloan was promoted to head coach in December 1988, joining Phil Johnson, Gordon Chiesa, David Fredman, Kenny Natt, Corbin and Layden.

“I am thankful that Ty has offered me the opportunity to serve as an assistant coach for the rest of the year,” said Hornacek.  “I am excited at the possibility to increase my involvement with the team in a coaching capacity, and to be a part of this staff, and look forward to working more closely with the coaches and players on a day-to-day basis.”

A native of Elmhurst, Ill., Hornacek played for three teams during a 14-year NBA playing career (1986-2000), including seven seasons with the Jazz from 1993-2000, where he averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 477 games.  He was originally selected by the Phoenix Suns in the second round (46th overall pick) of the 1986 NBA Draft out of Iowa State University.  Hornacek appeared in a total of 1,077 career games, which included time with Phoenix and Philadelphia in addition to Utah.

Considered one of the premier shooters in NBA history, Hornacek connected on .496 percent from the field (5,929-11,957), including .403 percent from three-point range (828-2,055) and .877 percent from the free throw line (2,973-3,390).  He still ranks eighth in league history in free throw percentage, 11 seasons following his retirement from the NBA following the 1999-2000 season.  Hornacek was selected an NBA All-Star in 1992, and twice won the Three-Point Shootout during All-Star Weekend (1998 and 2000).  His No. 14 jersey was retired by the Jazz on November 19, 2002.

Lakers sign 20-year TV deal with Time Warner Cable

Lakers sign 20-year TV deal with Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Lakers today entered into a 20-year, wide-ranging agreement for rights to distribute all locally available pre-season, regular season, and post-season Lakers games, beginning with the 2012-2013 season.

To showcase the games, Time Warner Cable will launch two regional sports networks in HD, including the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, with new state-of-the-art facilities in Los Angeles, to bring fans the most compelling Lakers content using the latest technology. The networks will be available to all satellite, cable and telco distributors in the Lakers’ territory, which includes all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii.

The networks will include a number of elements custom-designed for Lakers fans, including:

– A single destination where Lakers fans can find all locally-televised home and away games and a variety of new and original Lakers’ content featuring behind-the-scenes, personality and classic programming.

* All Lakers games will be produced in high definition, with state-of-the-art technology and high production values in English & Spanish.  The Spanish-language channel is a stand alone RSN with its own dedicated production of game telecasts and other unique content tailored to Spanish speaking  Lakers fans – not a SAP feed.

* All games will feature pre and post-game shows produced separately in both English and Spanish.

* A Lakers news and magazine show throughout the season.

* Joint community relations initiatives.

* New online and on demand multi-platform content featuring the Lakers.

“This long-term agreement represents a huge win for all Lakers fans, providing destination channels, more content and more platforms for the Lakers, one of the premier brands in professional sports today,” said Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable’s Chairman & CEO. “It allows us to secure great ‘must-have’ content for our customers in an advantageous arrangement that affords us greater control over our own economic destiny for decades to come.  We’ll be able to fully leverage our experience in local and regional programming; we have been at the forefront of the industry with 24-hour regional news and 24-hour regional news in Spanish, and now we’re breaking ground with the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, something that’s tailor made for Southern California.”

“The Buss family is thrilled to join forces with Time Warner Cable in building the TV home for Lakers fans,” said Dr. Jerry Buss, Lakers Owner. “Time Warner Cable has been producing quality sports programming for over a decade and the Lakers have been producing championship seasons for even longer.  I am particularly proud of being part of the first ever Spanish-language RSN in the country.  Together I’m confident we will delight our fans.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Kings fine DeMarcus Cousins for altercation with teammate

Kings fine DeMarcus Cousins

The Sacramento Kings today fined rookie forward/center DeMarcus Cousins for his involvement in a post-game incident with Donté Greene following Saturday’s (2/12/11) contest versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Cousins will rejoin the team and be available for Tuesday’s rematch against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

“There is no place in the NBA for violence, either on or off the court,” said Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. “Upon investigating the events of Saturday night, we feel it is necessary to impose an appropriate fine related to DeMarcus’ behavior. We will now move forward together. We do not intend to give up on DeMarcus’ talent or potential. We look forward to watching his continued improvement and development, which has been significant since the beginning of the season.”

“I wish to apologize to my teammates, the Kings organization and Kings’ fans for my role in an unfortunate altercation between teammates,” Cousins said. “I accept full responsibility for my actions and know that I must keep raising my standard of professionalism to be my best and a great player in the NBA.”InsideHoops.com editor says: Cousins keeps living up to his pre-draft reputation and making mental/emotional mistakes. Hope it stops sometime.

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Wizards win first road game of season

Getting to play the Cavaliers tends to cure whatever ills an NBA team tends to have.

After breaking their 26-game losing streak to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavs immediately returned to their losing ways and got dropped in dramatic fashion by the Wizards Sunday.

The Wizards were 0-25 on the road coming into this game.

The AP reports:

Wizards win first road game of season

Nick Young scored 31 points, John Wall had 19 points and 14 assists and Washington snapped its 25-game road winless streak with a 115-100 win Sunday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who reverted to their losing ways one game after ending their record skid.

The Wizards opened a 25-point lead in the third quarter, survived a Cleveland comeback and got their first road win since April 9 at Boston.

Antawn Jamison scored 21 and J.J. Hickson added 16 and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who stopped their losing streak at 26 on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers but failed to post back-to-back wins for the second time this season.

Washington finished four losses shy of matching the league’s longest losing streak to start a season, 29 in a row by the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks.

Blown out and embarrassed in a 118-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, the Wizards came out focused on getting a win outside D.C.’s city limits. They started 9 of 11 from the field and opened a 17-point lead in the first quarter on Young’s second straight three-point play.

The Cavs were down 68-46 at the half, showed some life in the third quarter but never seriously threatened the Wizards.

Point guard Mo Williams, who recently returned for Cleveland, struggled tonight, but should be worth watching over the next few games as he regains form.

Celtics F Paul Pierce will undergo MRI Monday

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce struggled badly in a Sunday loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and didn’t look like himself. Now we may know why. Chris Forsberg of ESPN reports:

Celtics F Paul Pierce will undergo MRI Monday

After being held without a field goal over nearly 40 minutes in Sunday’s win over the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce revealed that he is battling pain in his right hand and left ankle, the latter of which will require an MRI on Monday.

“I sprained my hand in practice [Saturday] and I hit it today,” said Pierce. “I just got to get my foot checked out [Monday], I’m going to get an MRI on it and go from there.”

Pierce missed all 10 shots he attempted Sunday, only the fourth time in his career he’s been held without a bucket and the first time since Dec. 13, 2000, when he went 0-for-7 with nine points over 31 minutes during a visit from Chicago. The only comparable shooting night of his career came on March 2, 1999, when Pierce was 0-for-11 with two points over 25 minutes in Cleveland.

Pierce definitely needs some rest, regardless of what the MRI reveals.

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins will miss Sunday game vs Suns

Sacramento Kings rookie forward/center DeMarcus Cousins will not play in tonight’s game at Phoenix while the organization reviews the situation that occurred in the locker room following last night’s game versus Oklahoma City.

According to multiple reports, Cousins got into a heated exchange with teammate Donte Green and had to be restrained.

Pacers now 7-1 under coach Frank Vogel

The Indiana Pacers are BALLIN now!

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

The message was written at the top of the dry erase board in the locker room, above the offensive and defensive schemes the Indiana Pacers needed to execute to get the victory. One phrase said it all.

“(Six) straight ends tonight. Our time is now.”

Message received.

The Pacers used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to end their losing streak to the Milwaukee Bucks, winning 103-97 at the Bradley Center on Saturday night.

“That was the only thing that was written on our board,” Pacers forward Danny Granger said. “They had beaten us six times in a row. It was good to get the win out here. We hadn’t won here in a long time.”

The victory kept the Pacers, who hadn’t beaten the Bucks since April 2009, two games up on Charlotte for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and a game behind Philadelphia for seventh.

The Pacers are 7-1 under coach Frank Vogel and have scored at least 100 points in each game.

“It feels good,” center Roy Hibbert said. “It’s a team effort. What I like about this team is if we’re down, if we’re up, we stick together and find out a way to win.”

I’m convinced. The next Pacers game has been added to my DVR list.

Peja Stojakovic hits four threes, scores 22 as Mavs beat Rockets

By Jeff Lenchiner

Peja Stojakovic hits four threes, scores 22 as Mavs beat Rockets

Back 800 years ago, a guy by the name of Peja Stojakovic was a flame-thrower for the Sacramento Kings, ripping the net every night and showing perfect form with one of the league’s best-looking outside shots. Never a great all-around player, Stojakovic was a scorer, and he did it well.

Mostly forgotten about in the past few years, Stojakvoic recently became a member of the Dallas Mavericks, where at least a partial revival was expected. The team has a pretty stacked roster, and all Peja is expected to do is stand outside and hit open shots. Which he was quite good at on Saturday.The AP reports:

Peja Stojakovic is settling in with his new team, adding a valuable dimension to the Dallas Mavericks’ offense.

Stojakovic scored 22 points and broke a tie with Dale Ellis for fourth place in career 3-pointers as the Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 106-102 on Saturday night.

Dallas acquired Stojakovic on Jan. 24, and the 3-time All-Star wasn’t in playing shape because he’d been sitting out since November. He went 1-for-11 from long range in his first three games before rediscovering his touch on Saturday night and going 4 for 6.

“I was getting good looks in the last couple of games, too, it was just that the shots wouldn’t go,” Stojakovic said. “It’s easy to play with the guys. I get so many good looks because they draw so much attention. Tonight (Saturday), I was able make them.”

Stojakovic now has 1,723 career 3s and trails only teammate Jason Kidd (1,756), Reggie Miller (2,560) and Ray Allen (2,562) in NBA history. Allen passed Miller for the lead Thursday, and Kidd wouldn’t mind at all if Stojakovic eventually leapfrogs him.

The Mavs are without Caron Butler, normally a starter. It’ll be interesting to see how effective Stojakovic remains over the course of the season, both before and after Butler’s eventual return.

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